The way she saiddangerouswas so French and sexy. When I grew up I wanted to be her. Might be tricky to change my nationality, but . . .
“All I’m saying is that –”
“Take this seriously,” she told me, leaning into me and taking my uninjured hand in hers. “This is your life. You are young. Don’t take your ‘ealth for granted.”
Anger and frustration boiled up inside me until I just couldn’t repress it anymore.
“Seriously? You want me to take this seriously? That’s why I’m here in the first place. Ugh, I’m sorry I just . . . Look, thank you. I’m tired and I need to get to bed. I’ll take my lantus now. I promise.”
She squeezed my hand and gave me a quick nod before packing up her things. As she was leaving Jack stopped her at the door and asked another series of diabetes questions. Honestly? Was he about to open his own private clinic or something? This was getting ridiculous.
“I need to go to bed,” I told Kira and she started to help me up off the sofa. As we were walking towards the staff side Jack blocked our path, wearing a stubborn expression.
“You’re not sleeping in the bunk room,” he told me, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
I looked at him. He seemed a little fuzzy around the edges. Then I yawned. I didn’t even have the energy to cover my mouth. My eyelids closed on a long blink and I realised I was very close to simply falling asleep on my feet.
“She’s going to one of the cabins,” he told Kira.
“Like I trust you, twatbadger,” she shot back at him. “You could take her off to your lair and have your disgusting way with her whilst she unconscious.”
“Ki Ki,” I mumbled. “I do not think Jack is interested in having his way with me. I think he just wants to make sure I don’t sue him. Spoiler alert, Mr Bailey, I don’t have the money or the energy to sue you and your stupid boat. You’re off the hook. Go back to making oodles of cash now.” I waved him away, my eyes still closed and heard him sigh.
“Will youpleasejust agree to sleep somewhere tonight where you won’t be woken up by three other people in the room?” he seemed very serious about this.
I was silent for a long moment.
“There’s an en suite bathroom.”
“Sold,” I said. He might have been offering out of guilt, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse or an en suite bathroom in the mouth. As soon as the word left my mouth he reached for me and tugged me away from a furious Kira.
“I’m watching you, cockwomble,” she muttered as he pulled me towards him and then to my shock lifted me up against his chest. Kira snorted. “Ugh, you really are a cheeseball, aren’t you? That is such an eighties romance manoeuvre. Not cool, bro.”
I was too tired to make a fuss, and his chest was big and firm and warm. Just for tonight, just for now I was going forget my health, forget my finances and let myself be carried.
“You’re setting back feminism fifty years,” Kira called after me and I gave her the finger. “Don’t you touch her, Pervy Perverson. I’m coming too.”
Chapter 9
Calm down, Julia Roberts
Urvi
I blinked open my eyes. It was pitch black but it didn’t feel like the middle of night. It felt like I’d slept for days. I groped around the bed blindly until my hand closed over my phone and the screen lit up.
“Holy shit badgers,” I gasped as I sat up so fast my head spun. It was past eleven in the morning. I hadn’t slept this late in months, maybe years. I jumped off the bed and found the light switch, taking in a shocked breath at the cabin I found myself in.
“Ugh,” grumped Kira, only her pink-tipped hair was visible from underneath the duvet. “Turn the light off, youdick.”
“Kira, get up! It’s after eleven.”
“Calm down, Julia Roberts,” she told me, her disgruntled face appearing above the cover. “After you gave everyone theSteel Magnoliastreatment nobody is expecting us to serve brekkie, believe me. By the way, I’m glad you’ve adopted the badger swear. It’s on its way to catching on globally – I can feel it in my waters.”
“Kira can you stop talking aboutyour watersand listen. Where the hell even are we?”
“Oh, we’re in the posh bit of the boat. Nice huh?”
“Why on . . . ?” I trailed off, and a memory of a hard chest, clean male scent and soft linen of a shirt next to my face came back to me. “I was carried, wasn’t I?”
